In Florida, the State Can Force a Defendant to Prove Where Money Comes From Before Being Released on Bond

In Florida, the process for a person getting out on bond while a criminal case is pending is usually fairly standard. If the police officer obtains an arrest warrant to arrest a suspect based on a prior crime, the judge who signs the arrest warrant will normally also place a bond amount on that warrant. After the arrest, if the defendant can make that bond, then he/she will be released pending the resolution of the case. When the police arrest someone immediately after an alleged crime was committed without an arrest warrant, that defendant will normally see a judge the next day. That judge will set a bond for the defendant then at what is called a first appearance hearing. The defendant can then be released if he/she can make the bond.

The general rule is that anyone who was arrested has a right to a reasonable bond, and if he/she can make that bond, either by paying the full amount or by paying 10% or so to a bonding company, that person can be released from jail. There is an exception to this general rule that can delay or even prevent a defendant from being released on bond even if he/she can come up with the money to pay the bond. The state can file what is called a Nebbia motion to prevent a defendant from bonding out. Essentially, if the state believes, regardless of whether there is any specific evidence to support this belief, that the money to be used to pay the defendant’s bail might come from illegal sources, the state can require the defendant to show that the money comes from a legitimate source. This does not sound problematic on its face. Defendants should not be able to use funds from illegal sources as bond money. The problem is that a defendant is normally entitled to a reasonable bond at his/her first appearance hearing and should be released on that day if he/she can make a reasonable bond. If the state files the Nebbia motion, many judges will not hold a hearing on that issue at the first appearance court date. Some judges have never had such a hearing and are not comfortable conducting one when the case may ultimately go to another judge anyway. Even if a judge is prepared and willing to hold the Nebbia hearing immediately, the defendant may need some time to get evidence and witnesses to court to prove where the bail money is coming from. Judges do not hold these kinds of hearings every day. If the hearing needs to be postponed for whatever reason, it could take a couple of weeks before the defendant could have a chance to prove the legitimacy of the bond money and bond out.

The bond system in Florida is already rife with injustice. Obviously, although it is much worse than most people know, it favors people with money and severely hinders poor people. All day, every day there are people who plead guilty to a criminal charge without seeing the evidence and without a meaningful consultation with a lawyer because they want to get out of jail quickly and can not afford to make a bond or wait several weeks for the next court date. The Nebbia inquiry, which the state can request on a mere hunch in all sorts of different cases, adds another questionable procedural hurdle for people to be released who are innocent until proven guilty at that stage of the proceedings.